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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26341099">Trains and Passengers</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/evengayerpanic/pseuds/evengayerpanic'>evengayerpanic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Half of It (2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Kid Fic, Young Love</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:27:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,391</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26341099</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/evengayerpanic/pseuds/evengayerpanic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Aster Flores and her young son go on the run from her abusive husband, the last thing she is expecting is to find love. In her search for home, she and her son find so much more than they were looking for.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ellie Chu/Aster Flores</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>172</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Part One.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <b>TW: Brief Mentions of Emotional, Physical and Sexual Abuse. Also mentions of PTSD and dealing with trauma.</b>
</p><p>I apologize for the extreme delay. This was originally inspired by an ask that I received on Tumblr for Aster, Ellie and a sweet little boy. The prompt seemed a little too large to just remain a prompt, so I turned it into this series. I hope you all enjoy it, as this series tackles issues about domestic abuse and the power behind fighting to survive, which is near and dear to my heart!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You are sure that he isn’t going to find us, right?” The look Aster Flores fixes Paul Munsky with nearly breaks his heart. She’s the thinnest that he has ever seen her, dark circles under one eye, a purple-red bruise surrounding the other eye. She looks beaten down, absolutely exhausted and like her spirit has been broken. In a sense, he supposes that it really has. </p><p>Nothing can prepare a person for the day that the man who is supposed to love you forever, starts to use his words and fists against you in pure hatred.</p><p>“I promise.” Paul whispers, pulling her suitcases out of his car, refusing to let her lift much. “Squahamish was before me and T.J. met. I was a teenager when I left.”</p><p>“And you’re sure that the cabin is still there?” Aster double checks. It isn’t that she doesn’t trust Paul, which is funny that she does at all since he was T.J.’s friend first, but the way he looked at her when she first started wearing sunglasses indoors… He knew what was going on immediately and confronted her.</p><p>She supposes the only reason he’s even helping her, the only reason she even trusts him at all, is because of Tommy. The day that T.J. and Aster named Paul the godfather of their newborn son, the man had cried and promised to always protect him.</p><p>Three years later, on the day that she broke down and told him about T.J.’s temper, Paul had cried again and promised to not let Tommy get hurt. Paul grew up with an angry Dad, he knew the damage it could do.</p><p>So it wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, she just had that natural fear running through her. What if the cabin wasn’t there? What if it wasn’t inhabitable for her and her son? She didn’t have much money, didn’t have any friends other than Paul, and her family had made it clear who’s side they were on. She was whisking her son away to safety, but she hoped it was security too.</p><p>“My friend lives across the track from the cabin, she said it’s fine. It’s still standing, and she even went in and tidied up for you guys.” Paul pulls a still sleeping Tommy from his carseat, the boy curling up against his chest and reaching his arms around his Uncle.</p><p>“Make sure to thank her for me.” Aster whispers, reaching to rub her son’s back gently, leaning her head against him and whispering. “Tommy, baby, you need to wake up… we have to say goodbye to Uncle Paul.”</p><p>“I’ll let you thank her, she promised to check in on you guys when you got there.” He smiled, as the boy in his arms stirred awake slowly. “Hey, little man.”</p><p>Big brown eyes stared up at Paul, thick lashes jostling up and down as the young boy blinked slowly at him. “Hi Uncle Paul. Are we going on a train now?”</p><p>“You and Mama are, Uncle Paul’s gotta stay at home with Daddy, okay?” Paul hugs the little boy tightly, tucking his nephew’s head under his chin before passing him over to Aster. The brunette hoists Tommy onto her hip, and grabs her suitcase in her other hand without breaking eye contact with Paul.</p><p>Tommy just whispers against his Mommy’s shoulder. “Daddy is scary, don’t let him be mean to you, okay Uncle Paul?” And then he’s wrapping his arms around his Mom’s neck and clinging onto her.</p><p>“I won’t.” Paul promises, leaning in to kiss the boy’s brown locks before giving Aster a tight hug, squeezing them both against him. “Take care of Mama, okay?”</p><p>“I will.” Tommy promises, oblivious to the tears springing to his mothers eyes as she mouths a soft ‘thank you’ at her son’s godfather, her bestfriend.</p><p>Paul nods his head, before gesturing to the train, holding back his own tears. “You better go and get your seats, the train’s just about to leave.” He smiles.</p><p>Aster hauls them onto the train, finding their seats and settling in quickly. Her bag goes under their seat and she lifts little Tommy up to the window, securing him safely against her legs. The boy waves his chubby toddler arms back at his Uncle until the train picks up enough momentum that Paul disappears from sight.</p><p>_________________</p><p>When they get to Squahamish, it’s late in the afternoon and the sun is already setting into night.</p><p>Tommy has spent most of the day curled up against his Mama playing on her cellphone, while she ignores the thirteen calls that her husband has made. Each time the screen lights up with another missed call or text, Aster and her son share a look of concern. </p><p>“Don’t worry baby…” She whispers into his forehead, lips pressed there as he shakes in her arms. “Uncle Paul said he’d handle it, right? Plus, he got Mama a new phone, that way Daddy can’t find us, okay?”</p><p>The little boy nods, perking up only as the train starts to come to a stop. “Is this it? Are we here, Mama?!” </p><p>Aster nods and it’s like a switch flips in her three year old, the little boy bouncing up and down excitedly, his hand gripping hers and pulling, always pulling towards the exit of the train. She stops him for a second, struggling to get their suitcase out from underneath the seat, and by the time she’s gotten it and is ready to go… Tommy is already off the train.</p><p>“Thomas?” She’s shrill. “Thomas Paul Singh?!”</p><p>Aster practically sprints off of the train, bag in her hands, her son’s name a scream on her lips as she prays to whatever God there is still out there, that she didn’t just get her baby boy away from a sick monster, only to lose him immediately to another one.</p><p>As she steps off of the train and into the station, she hears a sound that stops and starts her heart again. </p><p>“Mama, look! I found Uncle Paul’s friend! I saw the letters T-O-M-M-Y! That’s my name, Mama!”</p><p>Aster drops her bag and pulls her son into her arms, squeezing him to her chest as a sob wracks her body. “Don’t you ever do that to me again.” She cries.</p><p>“You must be Aster.” A stranger’s voice breaks her relief of seeing her son, and she looks up from where she’s kneeling to see one of the most beautiful women she’s ever laid eyes on. “I saw him get off the platform and knew it was you guys, you look just like Paul described.” Ellie smiles and Aster feels faint.</p><p>She nods her head slowly, not realizing that she’s staring until the other woman seems to catch on. “We were just about to go find you.” Ellie explains, holding up the handmade paper sign that Tommy must have seen from where he got off the train.</p><p>In neon letters it screams “Aster and Tommy!”</p><p>Aster’s still silent, her son squirming in her embrace as she finally lets go of him. The stranger in front of her laughs a little, clearly just a little embarrassed of the sign and of the alarming way they met.</p><p>“I’m Ellie Chu!” She smiles and holds out a hand.</p><p>“I know.” Aster breaks free of her stun and smiles, somewhat awkwardly, and takes the girl’s hand. “I mean I guessed. Paul said you’d be here to greet us.”</p><p>Ellie nods this time. “Oh yeah! Should we get you two home? You’re probably exhausted from the trip.”</p><p>Aster nods, putting her son down. She watches as Ellie outstretches her hand, clearly to take their suitcase, only to wind up with Tommy grabbing on.</p><p>Her smile falters but doesn’t fade, and Ellie walks along beside the tracks with the little boy, only waiting for Aster to catch up to them.</p><p>“Squahamish is pretty small, but we do have a main street, I’ll have to show you tomorrow since we are pretty much at your place.” Ellie points at a small cabin just across from them, and Aster feels her heart seize up. She knows most people would regret it, the change from the five bedroom Victorian that had been in her husband’s family for years, to a small two bedroom shack… but to Aster it looks like freedom.</p><p>“It isn’t much-” Ellie starts, only to get interrupted by a mesmerized Aster with a smile from ear to ear.</p><p>“It’s everything I could have hoped for, thank you.”</p><p>Ellie smiles softly, and Aster’s heart skips a beat for a moment, something that she chastises herself for. Here she is, fleeing for her and her son’s life, and getting distracted by a cute girl. Damn Paul Munsky!</p><p>“Paul sent me a list of stuff you two needed, so I grabbed groceries.” Ellie unlocks the door, letting Aster and her son inside of their new home. Tommy lets out a yell as he runs at a stuffed dinosaur sitting on the kitchen table. “I also picked up a couple of things that weren’t on his list of essentials.”</p><p>At the tears that fill Aster’s eyes, Ellie reaches out to squeeze the other girl’s hand. “I know what it’s like to start over in someplace new, only I had most of my stuff with me… I figured you wouldn’t have the room in your bags to pack certain things.”</p><p>Aster nods her head. “I had to leave behind almost all of his toys, I certainly wasn’t looking forward to bedtime tonight with only one of his bears.”</p><p>Ellie gives a look that says she understands, and neither of them move to pull their hands away from each other until Tommy turns back to look at them.</p><p>“I better get home.” Ellie finally says, moving quickly back to the door. “If you two need anything, I just live across the tracks in that building, okay? I run the train station. So just knock on my booth if you need me.”</p><p>Tommy’s mouth drops open as he hears Ellie, his voice getting impossibly high-pitched and excited as he talk-shouts. “You work in the train station?!”</p><p>Aster just laughs. “Well now you’ve got his attention, you should stay for dinner, so we can thank you.”</p><p>Ellie Chu stays for dinner, and even bed time, regaling little Tommy Singh with stories of the work she does on the trains, the people she’s met. She has Aster captivated as well, but for very different reasons.</p><p>As Tommy begins to fall asleep, Ellie excuses herself with a smile. “You should get some sleep too, you’re settled in alright?” She’s genuinely concerned, a breath of fresh air from how T.J. would dismiss her.</p><p>Aster nods and smiles, wishing Ellie a good night and then triple-locking the door before crawling into bed next to her three year old and curling around him.</p><p>_________________ </p><p>Mother and Son wake somewhere near Midnight, a sound in the dark outside stirring them from their sleep putting them both on edge. They both freeze temporarily in bed, hoping that if they’re quiet for long enough, the unknown noises will go away.</p><p>When they don’t, Aster pulls Tommy into her arms and whispers. “Do you want to go see the trains?”</p><p>The little boy nods, and so she wraps him up in a blanket, pulling a shawl from her suitcase to wrap around her own shoulders before she carries him to the door and outside of the cabin to watch.</p><p>For a second they watch in silence, the midnight train passing in front of them. Aster hugs Tommy close to her as the train starts fading into the distance, too far now to see, before a soft and concerned voice calls out to them. “Hey Aster, Tommy! Are you alright?”</p><p>Aster glances up, a sigh of relief escapes her as she realizes who it is that called out to them. Ellie Chu, working the midnight train. She should have guessed.</p><p>“We couldn’t sleep!” Aster calls out, taking a step closer to Ellie, her son clambering down from her arms to get closer to the other woman, or more importantly, the train booth she’s sat in.</p><p>Ellie opens the booth doors open wide as Tommy Singh gets close to them, the boy stopping at the doors to stare between her and his Mama. “Can I?” He calls over his shoulder, a soft nod from his Mother sends him scrambling inside, rushing for Ellie. “Cool!”</p><p>Aster gets closer too, the girls exchanging a look as Ellie lifts Tommy onto her knee to show him the control panel. “Only touch the button I tell you too, okay?” She makes sure to tell him first, before pointing at the different ones on the control board and explaining what they do. Aster comes closer and closer with each explanation, her eyes stuck on the way her son lights up as Ellie asks him to point which button is which and he gets them mostly correct. </p><p>Her heart warms as Ellie lets him press one to make the stop lights turn on and off, and she lets out a laugh as he proclaims loudly that he’s going to be a train “connector” when he grows up, just like Ellie.</p><p>Ellie looks at the time before turning back to Aster. “Do you want to join us, it’s pretty cold out?”</p><p>Aster blushes, suddenly painfully aware of how embarrassing her thin, pink nightgown is. It’s not very warm, and it covers barely anything, her shawl barely wraps around her shoulders. Ellie’s suggestion is one of concern for her health, nothing more, but Aster still can’t help but blush at the very thought of it.</p><p>“Are you sure we aren’t bothering you?”</p><p>Ellie shakes her head, a smile coming over her face as she holds Tommy close to her, squeezing together so Aster has enough room to join them in the booth. “Not at all.” She pauses, glancing back down at the time. “The second train is supposed to be here in fifteen minutes, if you want to, Tommy can help?”</p><p>Aster nodded her head, the little boy giving out a tired but excited cry of “Yay Mama!” Aster smiled.  </p><p>“You can share the chair with me, if you want?” Ellie scootches over in her seat just a little, trying to give Aster some room to sit down. “That way you can sit?”</p><p>As the three sat together; Ellie, Aster and Tommy, a small pang rang through Aster’s chest. How was it, that she could be so comfortable with a girl she just met, when her own husband kept her terrified.</p><p>It wasn’t until she was at home in bed, over an hour later, that she was able to even think about why. Ellie was just a friend, she was nice, she was polite, she was safe… Only she didn’t make Aster feel very safe.</p><p>Getting involved with Ellie Chu seemed like the most unsafe thing Aster Flores could ever possibly do.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <b>Trigger Warning: Brief References to Sexual Assault, Mentions of Physical Assault and Domestic Violence.</b>
</p><p> I'm glad that people are enjoying this as well; for anyone who isn't interested in waiting. This story is a completed story, that is published entirely on my Tumblr, under the same username as I use here, feel free to check it out there, I post a lot more prompts and stories there, that will slowly get moved to my AO3. For everyone that chooses to wait! I'm proud to give you this chapter, and hope you enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Mama, can we have dinosaur nuggets for dinner?” Aster blinked her eyes open, letting out a small laugh as she met her son’s eyes face to face, the little boy’s face bare inches away from her as he tried to whisper (or at least as much as a toddler could whisper) about how happy his dinosaur nuggets would make him.</p><p>For a second, Aster had to glance around the room, she was curled up on the sofa in the cabin, blanket curled around her. Tommy was squished in next to her, not quite stealing the blanket, but trying too.</p><p>“Baby, how long have I been asleep?” Aster asked softly, bringing a hand up to brush the hair out of her little boy’s eyes, a smile on her face as she did so.</p><p>“Four shows of Paw Patrol.” Tommy shrugged, his hand grabbing another chip from the bag in front of him, popping it into his mouth quickly before smiling at her. “You was really tired, Mama.” Tommy giggled.</p><p>Aster sighed as she shifted under the blanket, arms stretching out to grab her little boy and drag him into her, the child squealing and giggling as she pulled him towards her. “Mama! Mama, that’s silly!” The sound of his laughter was music to Aster’s ears as she peppered the little boy’s face with kisses, tickling underneath his arms and along his sides. “Hehe, Mama! That tickles!”</p><p>“Did you eat that whole bag of chips?” Aster teased him, the boy squealing out his answer in a yelp.</p><p>“I ate them, I ate them!” Tommy squealed, before his Mama swiped him up into the air, tucking him over her shoulder and carrying him to the kitchen.</p><p>Aster laughed for a second, before settling the little boy on the kitchen counter. “I guess you aren’t hungry for lunch then.” She smiled, leaning over to kiss him on the head, before pulling the freezer next to them open. “Let’s see if we have any dinosaur nuggets.”</p><p>Aster dug through the freezer slowly. “How about regular chicken nuggets?” She asked, a smile on her face as she shook the box. “You love chicken nuggets.”</p><p>“No.” Tommy said, frowning. “I want dino nuggets.”</p><p>“Baby, we don’t have dinosaur nuggets.” Aster tried to reason, her heart breaking as the little boy in front of her’s lip began quivering and he started to tremble.</p><p>“Okay… Okay, let’s go out and get some.” She said with a smile, lifting her son off of the counter and hugging him tightly. “We can go check out the town of Squahamish, and go find a grocery store to get your dinosaur nuggets, how does that sound?”</p><p>“Yay!” Tommy cried as he jumped down from his mother’s arms and sprinted off in the direction of the room he was staying in. “I’ll get dressed, Mama!”</p><p>Less than ten minutes later, Aster and Tommy were ready to go, hand in hand as they exited the cabin, only to run into someone standing at the front door.</p><p>“Oh!” Aster cried out as an arm reached out to steady her, stopping her and Tommy from toppling over.</p><p>“Aster?” Came the panicked voice that was just starting to become a familiar one. “I am so sorry!”</p><p>Blinking her eyes, Aster moved her arm to shield Tommy for a moment before she realized who it was they had run into. “Ellie! What are you doing here?”</p><p>The girl in question blushed for a moment, smiling as the little boy at her feet immediately began to grin at her. “I wanted to check in on you guys.” Ellie tried to explain, the smile growing as Tommy moved to cling at her arm with a shy cuddle against her. “Make sure you were okay, and that you didn’t need anything.” </p><p>“Funny you should ask.” Aster smiles, her voice laden with laughter underneath. “We were just about to go on a mission for dinosaur nuggets.” She smiles.</p><p>Ellie sputters in confusion. “Dinosaur nuggets?”</p><p>“My favourite!” Tommy exclaims excitedly.</p><p>At his excited yell, both Aster and Ellie burst into laughter. Ellie smiling down at the little boy before nodding. “Well I guess we better go get you some!”</p><p>Aster glanced up at Ellie’s remark, her eyes widening slightly. “You want to come with us?” She was beyond confused. A trip to a grocery store with a three year old didn’t sound like fun to even Aster, and she was his mother, she couldn’t imagine why someone would want to join them if they didn’t have to.</p><p>“If that’s okay with you.” Ellie said with a soft look at Aster, there was a sparkle in them that Aster had never seen in anyone before. To top it all off, Ellie kneeled to her son’s height with her next words, which made Aster swoon. “And if it’s okay with you.”</p><p>“Yeah!” Tommy shouted his glee, something that made Aster blush and nod her own agreement.</p><p>“We would love the company, Ellie Chu.”</p><p>_________________</p><p>It wasn’t until two hours later that Aster Flores realized just how much fun she was having grocery shopping in Squahamish with her son and Ellie Chu.</p><p>“What do you mean you’ve never seen Harry Potter?” Ellie Chu gasped in surprise, nearly dropping the ice cream in her hands as the three of them walked down the street of Squahamish. “It’s a classic, Aster!”</p><p>“Religious parents.” Aster explained, biting a piece of her popsicle off, looking down at her son who had chocolate all over his face. “I wasn’t allowed to watch anything that might condemn my soul.” She shrugs.</p><p>“Wow, I’m sorry.” Ellie turned to look at Aster, nothing but sincerity in her eyes as they exchanged a look. “Do you mind if I ask a personal question?”</p><p>Aster laughed for a second. “Ellie, you’ve bought me groceries twice now. You also cleaned up the cabin I’m staying in, and now you’ve bought me and my son ice cream. I would say you’re allowed to ask anything.”</p><p>“How did they feel when you got married so young?” </p><p>Aster froze, mid-smile as her face falls. Instantly, Ellie felt a flush of embarrassment flood over her and she shook her head wildly, apologies immediately escape her lips. She didn’t mean to ask, didn’t mean to be so intrusive. Ellie knows she shouldn’t have pried, she shouldn’t have asked, really it was none of her busi-</p><p>“It’s okay.” Aster finally speaks, voice smaller than Ellie Chu is used too, the loud and boisterous Mom that she met last night, and got to spend time with today has instead been replaced with hard whispers and softness. “They loved the idea, they’re the ones who actually suggested that he propose, to be honest.”</p><p>At Ellie’s confused look, Aster sighs. She stops in her tracks but nods Tommy forward, the little boy bouncing along the street happily, following the way they took to get to Squahamish. His Mama and her new friend watch him carefully, Aster speaking as they start walking again, a little more confidently now that Tommy is no longer within earshot.</p><p>“T.J., Tommy’s father, well… his family has a lot of money.” She starts, her eyes keeping a close tab on her three year old who’s barely ten feet in front of them. “When we started dating, T.J. began giving money to my Father’s church.” Her eyes go downcast again, clear shame passes over as she murmurs. “My Dad thought if we got married, that the donation his family would give… well, that it would change lives.”</p><p>Ellie reaches out, her free hand going to caress Aster’s arm gently. “I’m really sorry your family used you.”</p><p>It’s soft, and small, but Ellie sees the slightest upturn of a smile come over Aster’s face. “It’s okay, I got Tommy out of it, and that’s all that matters, right?”</p><p>“Right.” </p><p>“We should catch up to him before he makes it all the way home without us.” Aster says, grabbing a hold of Ellie’s free hand, and holding tight to one of the grocery bags they purchased. “Come on!” She smirks, pulling Ellie behind her as the two women chase after the boy with a smile and laugh that rings across town.</p><p>_________________</p><p>Ellie spends the rest of the day with the mother and son duo; Aster makes them all the much anticipated dinner of dinosaur nuggets and tater tots, Tommy helps Ellie with the trains in the evening, and Ellie ends up the middle of a too cute for words sandwich when they all curl up to watch The Polar Express.</p><p>It may not be Christmas, but at least it has trains.</p><p>Halfway through the movie, an exhausted Tommy Singh falls asleep, spooned up against Ellie Chu’s leg, effectively freezing her from moving for fear of waking the angel up from his peaceful slumber.</p><p>Instead Ellie and Aster continue their conversation from earlier, over top the little boys dark brown curls.</p><p>“Did you always want to be a Mom?” Ellie asks, watching the way that Aster slips her fingers through her son’s hair, brushing it softly as he sleeps.</p><p>“No, actually.” Aster surprises Ellie. “I wanted to be an artist, paintings in every museum. I wanted to have my own collection and run my own gallery. I didn’t want kids until I was at least thirty, maybe older.”</p><p>Ellie raises an eyebrow, looking down at the little boy sleeping. “What changed? I mean, you can’t have been very old when Tommy was born. You’re my age.”</p><p>“I was nineteen when I got married, three weeks shy of my twentieth birthday when Tommy was born.”</p><p>Ellie can only smile, not picking up on the hidden sadness in Aster Flores’ eyes. “A decade early, hm?”</p><p>Aster frowns this time. Ellie reaches a hand out to grab Aster’s arm gently. “I’m sorry, was I rude?”</p><p>Aster shakes her head, strands of her own dark curls falling into her eyes. “No.” She mumbles, a shiver going through her as she pulls away, moving just enough to get to her feet. “I need to get him in bed.”</p><p>Ellie nods, watching as Aster ducks in to lift Tommy under the arms. The boy instantly curls against his Mama, tucking in close to her, even while asleep. She hoists him into her arms and carries him off down the hall, leaving Ellie alone in the living room in silence.</p><p>She waits a moment, then another one. </p><p>About a minute has gone by before Ellie realizes that she probably offended Aster, and that the girl was trying to get away from her. She gets to her feet, gathering what little things she brought, and sneaks over to the door… shame and embarrassment are written across her face. She feels mortified. </p><p>She’s about to leave, mentally cursing herself for chasing away one of the only people that’s seem to enjoy her company since Paul Munsky moved out of town, when Aster comes back into the room, stopping her in her tracks with a single word.</p><p>“Stay.” She pauses, then adds. “Please?”</p><p>And just like Aster Flores could control the entire world with a single word, Ellie Chu finds her way back to the sofa and sits down, facing the girl silently.</p><p>“We were only married a week before T.J. began asking me when we were going to have kids.” Aster takes the chair across from Ellie with a sigh.</p><p>“I told him I wanted to wait a few years.” She continues, fixing Ellie with a look, a look that somehow Ellie knows how to read even though they’ve only known each other for a couple of days.<br/>
“I found out I was pregnant barely a month later.”</p><p>Ellie exhales the breath that she didn’t know she was holding, there’s so many questions in her mind, but she knows better than to interrupt Aster. Not now.</p><p>“A happy accident, or so I thought.” Aster smiles softly, glancing over at the room where her son is sleeping. “When Tommy was born, I fell in love.”</p><p>At this point she stops, her voice gets a little choked up and Ellie has to keep herself from rushing across the room to comfort Aster, to hold her, hug her, do something to help fix what the other woman feels.</p><p>“Barely a month afterwards, he was asking me again when we could get pregnant… I wasn’t even healed from Tommy’s birth yet.” Aster grimaces in pain.</p><p>“I found out the condoms we were using… all had holes poked in them, every last one of them.” </p><p>At this, Ellie feels the shock hit her.</p><p>Aster isn’t finished though, far from it. She tells her story from that moment on; informing Ellie of how she had to secretly go on birth control without T.J. noticing, sharing that after three years of nothing that he was starting to get suspicious and culminating in a very awkward doctor appointment where T.J. was finally informed of the measures Aster took against an accidental pregnancy with a second child.</p><p>And lastly, his immediate fury.</p><p>“He screamed the entire way home…” Aster whispers, voice broken and Ellie’s heart thudding into her stomach. “When we got home, he tossed out the birth control, and told me we were going to try every day until I gave him another child.” Ellie feels sick.</p><p>“I didn’t want too, but that didn’t matter to him… He just…” At this point, Aster lets out a sob and Ellie bounds across the room to her in a second, wrapping her arms around the crying woman and holding her in a tight embrace. “He took what he wanted from me.”</p><p>Aster trembles in Ellie’s arms. Ellie holds her, not sure how to comfort her, other than listening to her story.</p><p>“Every day for a week, he’d come home and… One night, Tommy heard my screaming and came running.” Ellie lets out a small gasp, her heart breaking at the very idea of Tommy walking in on the horrors his Mama went through. “I begged T.J. to stop, but he slammed the door in Tommy’s face, and kept on…”</p><p>Aster wipes the tears from her eyes, and Ellie offers her part of her sleeve, not sure what else to do. The hollow small laugh Aster gives at that, only seems to break Ellie more, her heart racing at the things these precious two people had to go through.</p><p>“Tommy sat outside the door the entire night crying, the next day he asked me why Daddy was hurting me…” Aster barks out another hollow laugh, this one full of remorse and anger, instead of the sadness from before. “You know, you always wonder what will happen if your child walks in on you… How you’re going to explain that Mommy and Daddy weren’t hurting each other. You never think you have to explain that he’s right, that Daddy was hurting Mommy and you don’t know why he’s doing it.”</p><p>At this Ellie whispers, “Aster, I am so sorry that you went through th-” But Aster isn’t finished yet.</p><p>“The next day, I tried to stop him… I fought back, and he gave me this black eye.” Aster points to her face, and Ellie, though she already knew just who was the culprit of Aster’s bruises, can hardly hold herself back from wanting to stand up and go after the sick son of a bitch. “That’s when I knew I had to leave.”</p><p>Ellie waits another moment, feeling as all of the tensity Aster was holding onto, slowly starts to dissipate, a bi-product of finally being able to tell her story, at least, the main focus and point of it. </p><p>They end up in silence for a few minutes, sharing the chair that Aster was sitting in, pressed together tightly, hands still woven in with each other. Ellie isn’t sure what to say; she’s angry, she’s bitter, but mostly, she feels the need to protect Aster and Tommy swell in her… more than it already had meeting them.</p><p>Paul had told her bits and pieces of what they went through, but nothing of what was shared tonight.</p><p>“You’re safe here, Aster…” Ellie finally whispers, brushing the hair from the other girl’s eyes and staring at her with a sense of something more bubbling inside of her. “I know I’m not much to look at, but I’ll keep you safe from him, I swear.”</p><p>Aster blushes softly, before she meets Ellie’s eyes. “Can you stay here tonight, please? Something about you Ellie, it just makes me feel… well, safe.”</p><p>She whispers the next part. “And not safe.”</p><p>Ellie chooses to ignore the comment, nodding her head that she’ll stay for the night, as long as Aster wants her. Ellie won’t leave as long as she’s needed.</p><p>_________________</p><p>The two end up settling in Aster’s bed, Aster’s choice so that neither of them wind up sore in the morning from the couch. They’re both fully dressed and too emotionally exhausted to even think about changing.</p><p>They lie on top of the blankets, face to face, both of them fighting against their eyelids to keep from closing. They try to talk about happier things, things that don’t make Aster relieve bad memories, things that don’t make Ellie seriously consider what it would feel like to break a man’s arm, or worse.</p><p>Aster asks Ellie about what she wanted to be. A writer, is the answer. She settled for train engineering so that her Dad would be able to retire happily without worrying about his station, his trains and passengers.</p><p>Ellie asks Aster about her favourites. Colour? Green. Smell? The shampoo her son uses. Book? Fried Green Tomatoes. Memory? Taking Tommy to the beach, just her and him for the day. The waves crashing, building a sandcastle, trying to teach him how to swim.</p><p>Ellie smiles at the thought.</p><p>Aster asks Ellie if she’s ever thought about having kids. Her answer is an immediate no, she’s terrible with children, she’s never met a kid that’s actually liked her and not wanted to burst into tears after seeing her. </p><p>Aster reminds her that Tommy hangs onto her every word, and teases Ellie that for someone who isn’t good with kids, she’s just great with him.</p><p>They talk for hours, until the words are barely a mumble, and they’re curled up against eachother. Aster tucked in a ball, Ellie wrapped around protectively.</p><p>Aster Flores falls asleep with Ellie Chu’s arm wrapped around her waist, and a feeling of true security.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Part Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <b>Trigger Warning: Brief References to Parental Death, Mentions of Anxiety and PTSD, Descriptions of Physical Abuse.</b>
</p><p>So, I have a question for anyone reading... I don't have any other large series for the Half of It, but I do have a few prompts that I'm considering posting. Is there any interest in those? They're smaller, some are AU and some aren't. I'm up for suggestions!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You’ll never be happy without me!” Aster let out a shriek as she jolted awake, her arms immediately shooting out to check the bed beside her for comfort. Empty. Almost instantly, Aster’s chest heaved as her heart broke into tiny pieces. It was only a dream.</p><p>It was obvious to Aster, that some time during the night, Ellie had left her… probably to get as far away from Aster Flores as possible. She didn’t blame her.</p><p>Her anxiety and self-doubt showed it’s ugly face, as Aster stewed on her empty bed and the cold silence of being alone. The things she had gone through were horrid nightmares that nobody should have to deal with, much less someone who didn’t need to be involved in them. Why would Ellie choose to stay?</p><p>Aster Flores wasn’t good enough for someone to fight for, that was her fear coming out. The constant worry that she wasn’t good enough for her family, she wasn’t good enough for her son, hell - she wasn’t even good enough for her husband to treat her properly. How could she ever think she was good enough for someone like Ellie Chu was beyond her.</p><p>That was the one thing that crippled Aster, her anxiety, thinking that she deserved all of this. She used to wonder how amazing women would let people walk all over them and think they were to blame… and then she lived it. It was something that tore you up, stripped away any part of your self worth, made you feel little, insignificant and at fault.</p><p>Aster Flores knew that deep down she deserved to be happy, but her heart and her head spoke two very different truths. She was spiraling down, down, dow-</p><p>“Mama, Mama! We made you breakfast!” And just like that, a tiny voice broke through her shadow of self doubt and upset, as Tommy came flying into the bedroom, and clambering onto the bed, before throwing himself into her arms with a flying leap.</p><p>“We?” She whispered, before the door opened once more and Ellie Chu came through with an apologetic look on her face and a tray of food in her arms.</p><p>“Sorry, Aster! I tried to get you an extra five or ten minutes, but he is definitely enthusiastic.” Ellie smiles, helping Tommy get settled on Aster’s legs before setting the tray of food down on her lap gently.</p><p>Tommy smiled as he grabbed a piece of toast off of the tray and immediately shoved the entire piece into his mouth, getting a laugh from Aster and Ellie.</p><p>“Hey now, little man!” Ellie admonished gently with a grin. “Don’t make your Mama think I didn’t feed you!”</p><p>Tommy looked up from his face full of toast and grinned from ear to ear. “I had three pieces of toast! And yoghurt! And cereal!” He exclaimed proudly.</p><p>“And orange slices… Honestly, Aster, how do you keep this boy fed, he’s a garbage disposal for food.”</p><p>Aster nodded with a small smile, looking over at Ellie and whispering at the girl. “Thank you for staying.”</p><p>Ellie Chu looked down, a slight blush to her cheeks as Aster took a forkful of the scrambled eggs and sampled the breakfast. “Of course, I wouldn’t leave…”</p><p>Tommy looked between the two adults, not quite sure what was going on, or why they were staring at each other so much. Before he could dwell too much on it, like they were, he interrupted them with a small. “Mama, you gonna eat, or can I have some?”</p><p>Aster let out a small laugh, before wrapping her arm around the three year old and pulling him into her lap. “You can have as much as you want, my love.”</p><p>Ellie smiled, turning away for a second before Aster called out, stopping her in her tracks slowly.</p><p>“Are you going to sit and eat with us, Ellie, or do you need to go get ready for your shift with the trains?”</p><p>“It’s my day off, actually, the whole day.”</p><p>“Would you like to spend it here with us?”</p><p>“I’d love too.”</p><p>_________________</p><p>The rest of the day saw Aster, Ellie and Tommy playing outside in the sun (Tommy convincing Ellie to do a very scary monster chase around the yard), the trio eating dinner outside like a picnic, and then watching as the stars came out… Tommy falling asleep on Ellie before the first star could show up.</p><p>The next day was full of garage sales, picking flowers in the forest, and thrift shopping for lost treasures.</p><p>The day after had Tommy and Ellie cooped up in the train station booth, Aster watching precariously from her front porch before feeling safe enough to leave them and get chores done. Between laundry, lunch and baking treats for her conductors, Aster didn’t spend much time with Ellie but it stilled her heart none the less to see her son with someone who cared enough to engage with him one on one.</p><p>The longer Aster spent with Ellie, the more she got to understand why Ellie and Paul were close friends.</p><p>They both had the same brand of good on them.</p><p>While Paul was loud, and boisterous, and emphatically happy; Ellie was more quiet about her happiness, and reserved to not be so bold. Paul was the life of the party, Ellie was the home you went too after the party was done and you needed that peace.</p><p>Despite their differences though, the good shone through on both of them, all of the qualities that Aster loved on Paul, like his kindness, and his sweetness, and his adoration of Tommy… Aster saw the same in the way Ellie looked at her and her son.</p><p>_________________</p><p>Almost two weeks had passed since Aster felt the sweet smell of freedom, before she was met with a taste of normalcy, routine and feeling part of a team.</p><p>It was on a Saturday morning cuddle session with Tommy, with the added bonus of Ellie on the other side of the bed, that heard Ellie’s suggestion of.</p><p>“Let’s go to the beach.”</p><p>“The beach?”</p><p>Ellie turned to face Aster with a smile on her face, reaching over to tousle Tommy’s hair before repeating. “The beach. There’s a small private one not far from here, we can spend the day, how about it?”</p><p>“Is it deep, Tommy still can’t really swim.”</p><p>Ellie grinned from ear to ear. “I’ll help teach him. It’s got a great sand bar you can walk out over a mile.”</p><p>“Okay.” Aster said with a grin, tickling her son under the arms gently. “You wanna hit the beach, Tommy?”</p><p>“Yay!” The three year old cheered, scrambling off of the bed excitedly to go find his shark swimsuit.</p><p>Less than an hour, and a cab ride later, Ellie was helping Aster and Tommy down a couple of rocks onto a sandy shore, the latter’s eyes going wide as they both took in the sight of calm crystal clear waters, golden sand and the soft smell of sea salt.</p><p>“Mama… It’s so-”</p><p>“Beautiful.” Aster finished for Tommy, setting him down on the sand, before dropping the beach bag down beside him with a smile. “Ellie… How did…”</p><p>The other girl blushed softly. “My parents used to take me here when I was small, before my Mom died.”</p><p>Aster sighed softly, reaching her hand out for Ellie, and squeezed it gently before they were interrupted by Tommy excitedly jumping around and shouting about how he wanted to be the first one in the water. </p><p>“Thank you for bringing us here.” The brunette spoke softly, her hand not leaving the other girls even as Tommy grabbed tight to her other one and started dragging her towards the water. “Someone else wants to say thank you as well, don’t you Tommy?”</p><p>At the sound of his name, the little boy looks up and furrows his brows, having missed everything his Mom said before. He looks between the woman who glance at him expectantly and he lets out a gasp of recognition so loud that both of them start laughing at the over-the-top expression on the child’s face.</p><p>“Yes!” He exclaims, dropping his Mother’s hand and diving at Ellie, throwing his arms around her waist and giving her a tight squeeze of a hug. “Thank you, Ellie!“</p><p>He pauses. “Can we go swimming now?!” The adults laugh again as he scrambles to throw in an innocent and sweet-sounding “Please?” onto his question.</p><p>Ellie is the first to break.</p><p>A look is exchanged between Ellie and Aster, and then a small smile of approval from Aster has Ellie lifting Tommy into her arms with an “Of course!”</p><p>And with that, Aster Flores watched Ellie Chu run off with her son into a wave, the three year old screaming with excitement as the water crashed into them, drenching him everywhere but his face.</p><p>Aster stood back for a little bit to set up the towels and the cooler, making sure that their juice was cold, and the umbrella was up to shade them from the sun.</p><p>There was a small whisper in the back of her mind that constantly nagged at her though, and even watching Tommy with Ellie, that voice wouldn’t stop:</p><p>“You’ll never be good enough for her.”</p><p>“She’s going to break your heart, and then what?”</p><p>“You don’t deserve to be happy.”</p><p>“He’s only going to end up hating you in the end.”</p><p>“Why are you delaying the inevitable?”</p><p>“She’s only doing this because she pities you.”</p><p>Aster’s eyebrows furrowed in the same way that her son’s did moments earlier, only instead of the gasp of realization, the feeling of inadequacy brushes over her, again and again. Her thoughts only get darker and more upset, the sound of his voice twisting the words in her head and screaming them at her.</p><p>The corners of Aster’s eyes begin to water.</p><p>Her physical bruises may have disappeared, only the smallest remains of a little bit of hollowness to the black eye that she had is visible, but just barely so.</p><p>On the outside she looks healed. She looks refreshed. She looks unbroken and unashamed and nothing can harm her, even if it tries. Aster exudes strength.</p><p>On the inside she is bruised. She is heartbroken. She is terrified, and unsure, and she’s scared to let a single person in. Not even a beautiful woman with a heart of gold. She’s slipping further and further down her rabbit hole of despair until suddenly-</p><p>“Aster! Get in here already, the water is beautiful and Tommy wants to show you his front kick, come on!”</p><p>Ellie (and Tommy) pulls her out of it instantly.</p><p>The haze drips off of her as she runs to the water, she can hear her son scream his excitement as Ellie tosses him into the water gently, the boy kicking his feet until he resurfaces… though the other woman is never far from his side in case he should need help.</p><p>Aster spends the rest of the day with Ellie and Tommy unknowingly fighting her demons for her.</p><p>The way her son reaches for her and throws his arms around her neck, giggling as she drops down into the water to dunk him, it fights off every last word that T.J. has ever said about Tommy hating her one day.</p><p>His little squeals of joy, and the way he presses big sloppy kisses to her cheeks and doesn’t complain when she cradles him against her body to float on her back… her little boy doesn’t even know what the word hate means, let alone could ever feel it towards her.</p><p>Whatever his voice in her head says about Ellie isn’t true either; the way her hand lingers just a little too long on the small of Aster’s back when they’re fighting through the waves, or how their hands instinctively link together while they’re floating… Ellie clearly thinks that Aster and Tommy are both very worth it.</p><p>When Ellie helps pick up the towels and the cooler as the sun begins to set, letting Aster take her time to walk along the beach with a sleepy Tommy in her arms, the only look they exchange is a blushed smile… It’s clear that Ellie could never leave her.</p><p>And the look Ellie gives her as the sit in the taxi on the way home, is so far from pity, that Aster can’t even function properly with the way that smile breaks through every defense that she has put up.</p><p>“Thank you for today, really, it was magical.” Aster whispers, careful not to wake up the sleeping Tommy that’s sprawled between them, half on Ellie’s lap.</p><p>“You deserve it.” Ellie says quickly, a tinge of red growing over her cheeks. She doesn’t hesitate to follow with “I really like you Aster… and Tommy too.”</p><p>Aster blushes this time. “We really like you too.”</p><p>And then her lips are pressed against Ellie’s gently, her cheeks bright pink, though she doesn’t notice. Her focus is pulled to the way that Ellie kisses her back, hand coming up to cup Aster’s cheek delicately.</p><p>They kiss for a minute, Aster leaning into the kiss and deepening it gently, her own hand brushing Ellie’s hair from her face as Ellie’s thumb strokes her tenderly.</p><p>They’re interrupted by Tommy flipping over in his sleep, stretching out and making a little snore, the girls unable to control their giggles at that.</p><p>“Stay over tonight.” Aster is breathless.</p><p>Ellie blushes. “I thought you’d never ask.”</p><p>_________________</p><p>As they get back home, Aster takes the towels and the cooler, Ellie deciding to be the one to carry the fast asleep toddler inside and into his bed so that the two of them can have a night to themselves.</p><p>She hears the sound of plastic hit the ground as she’s pulling Tommy out of the taxi, but doesn’t think too much of it as she pays the elderly driver and hoists the little boy into her arms properly.</p><p>Ellie doesn’t notice anything is wrong until she turns to walk towards the door and runs straight into a shell-shocked and trembling in terror Aster.</p><p>She looks past the terrified woman to see Paul.</p><p>Paul, but he looks cut up and bruised… Black and purple marks adorn his body, what they can see of his body at least, like he’s been in a fist fight. Or worse.</p><p>Paul, but he has a black eye and a split lip… Ellie can even see the tell-tale signs of a broken nose on him.</p><p>Paul, but his eyes aren’t full of life like they are usually… He’s been crying, his eyes turned downwards like he’s ashamed of himself, like he’s a lesser man.</p><p>Paul, but he’s stumbling over his words… A ramble of apologies made over and over again until Ellie can make out just what he’s saying other than ‘Sorry’.</p><p>“Aster… T.J. found out where you are.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Part Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>
  <b>Trigger Warning: Non-Graphic Descriptions of Violence, Physical Abuse and Assault. Mentions of Abuse, Assault and PTSD.</b>
</p>
<p>I'm really glad that everyone has been enjoying this story so far, this is a quite abrupt ending to the series, which is why I went back and wrote an epilogue to it that I will be releasing very soon. I hope you all are as captivated by reading this story as I was writing it. The subject of domestic violence is one that is very near and dear to my heart, so just the act of writing this story is achieving something that once upon a time I thought I would never have, closure.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Paul doesn’t get another word out before Aster is flying into the house, panic written clear as day on her face. She doesn’t speak at all to Paul or Ellie, immediately racing to her bedroom and throwing open one of the bags that she brought with her to Squahamish, immediately going through the drawers of the room and dumping her clothes into the duffel bag as quickly as she can… Haphazardly. </p>
<p>Ellie follows after her, carrying Tommy carefully inside and laying him down on the couch with a gentle ease before she’s running into the room after Aster. “What are you doing?” Ellie’s voice wavers.</p>
<p>“I’ve got to get out of here.” Aster whispers, and Ellie can hear the crumple in it, the cracking in it. Aster Flores is on the verge of tears and Ellie Chu has no idea what to do to fix it. “Immediately… Tonight.”</p>
<p>The words hit Ellie like a bunch of bricks crashing through a glass pane window and she feels like her heart drops through her stomach. Aster is trying to leave. She’s going to go away and take Tommy and Ellie feels like both of those will equally break her heart, so she can’t let her do that. Ellie can’t let her go.</p>
<p>“Don’t leave, Aster…” She whispers out, before Paul is going off on a rant about where she’s going to go, and how is she going to keep herself and Tommy fed.</p>
<p>Aster doesn’t hear any of it, all she can do is stare at Ellie Chu and feel the tears prick at her eyes painfully when she sees the look on the other woman’s face.</p>
<p>“I have to.” The tone of her voice betrays the words she’s saying, Aster knows that Ellie can see right through her, can see how Aster doesn’t want to leave, that she’s finally felt some form of happiness and leaving that… leaving that destroys Aster’s heart.</p>
<p>Ellie fights the lump in her throat as she barely is able to hold herself together. “We can figure it out, Aster.”</p>
<p>Paul interrupts before Ellie can say more, can beg Aster to stay. He is full of shame, anger and upset. “I won’t let you go anywhere, Aster, I’ll protect you from him. He won’t get past me, I’ll keep you both safe.”</p>
<p>Aster can’t help the tone in her voice as she stares at Paul. “How does he even know where I am, Paul, please tell me you didn’t.” Her face is unreadable.</p>
<p>“Not on purpose.” He whispers, hanging his head.</p>
<p>Ellie glances between the two. Paul can’t mean what she thinks he means, there’s no way he does.</p>
<p>“He found the letter you wrote me, it had Ellie’s return address.” Aster lets out a gasp as she realizes her mistake. She thought it had been safe, sending the letter from Ellie’s address, and under Ellie’s name. How could she have not realized that T.J. would have wondered who Ellie was, and why she was suddenly sending him letters at the same time that Aster left.</p>
<p>Paul hangs his head once more, Ellie moving to the freezer quickly for some ice, coming back to hear the hard sound of Paul’s voice. “…and he beat the shit out of me so that I would tell him the truth. When I wouldn’t, he took the note, and saw your writing.” Ellie hands Paul the ice pack, patting his shoulder gently.</p>
<p>Aster is quiet now, her eyes are filled with tears and she stares at Paul in a way that Ellie cannot describe.</p>
<p>“I need to leave.” She explains again, struggling to close the bag with all of the clothes spilling out of it.</p>
<p>Ellie shakes her head, her own tears threatening to spill. Just an hour ago they were on the verge of something two weeks in the making, something so beautiful that Ellie had never felt happier in her life. And now? She couldn’t imagine Aster just disappearing out of her life, or Tommy. “You can’t.”</p>
<p>“He’s already attacked Paul… If he sees you protect me, you’ll only be next. I can’t let that happen.” </p>
<p>Aster sounds afraid, truly terrified, and as much as Ellie wants too, she knows that she can’t fix it. “Where are you going, Aster? You’re going to need money.”</p>
<p>“I have a little bit, in my savings account, he already knows where I am… I can take it out here, carry it on me.” The way Aster looks at Ellie, both girls know that this is only a temporary solution, the money won’t last. “Wherever I end up, I’ll look for work.” She vows.</p>
<p>“Let me come with you.” Ellie offers immediately, Paul spinning on his foot to stare at her. Realization passes over his face as he understands what’s happened over the past few weeks. “We can use my bank account. Your husband doesn’t know who I am.”</p>
<p>Its ridiculous, and Ellie Chu knows that her Father would be giving her grief if he knew she considered following a woman she’s only known two weeks. </p>
<p>But Aster Flores is special, and Tommy Singh is special, and Ellie already can’t picture losing them and going back to her old life. They quickly ruined any sense of comfort she had in her daily routine. Why settle for normal when you had life-altering standing in front of you. Aster and Tommy are life-altering.</p>
<p>“No.” Aster whispers, turning her head to mask her tears. She can’t let Ellie do that, she can’t let her leave her home behind. She won’t ask her to do that.</p>
<p>Aster doesn’t realize that Ellie already considers her and her son, to be her home. Her true home.</p>
<p>“What about Tommy?” Ellie pleads, trying to appeal to anything that will keep Aster in her life. “Who’s going to watch him if you’re busy looking for work?”</p>
<p>“Nobody.” Aster whispers.</p>
<p>Ellie already doesn’t like the sound of this.</p>
<p>“I’m not taking him with me, Ellie, I can’t…” Aster lets the tears fall freely now, staining her cheeks and her shirt. “I can’t do that to him, running in fear, not knowing where we’ll end up. It isn’t fair to him.”</p>
<p>Paul lets out a gasp, and Ellie holds her breath.</p>
<p>“I want you to look after him. Just until I can find a place that’s safe, then I’ll send for him, okay? Just until I’m all settled… Please, Ellie, I know you love him.”</p>
<p>Ellie feels the pain in her chest grow.</p>
<p>She starts to shake her head. She can’t do this, she can’t look after Tommy all alone. She’s not good with kids, she’s not made to be a Mom. She can’t do this without Aster, she doesn’t want too. Tommy needs his Mama, not her, he needs Aster to -</p>
<p>“Please, Ellie, you are the only person I trust to keep him safe.” Ellie can’t look over at Paul, the tips of his ears red, she knows that he understands it’s not personal, it’s simply because T.J. doesn’t know about her, but still… his heart breaks none the less.</p>
<p>“He’ll be safe with you, like you said, my husband doesn’t know who you are… He won’t find Tommy.”</p>
<p>Ellie shakes her head again, even though she knows she won’t be able to turn her down. “Please, Aster, we need you… We can come up with something else. Tommy needs you.” She begs but it falls on deaf ears.</p>
<p>Aster has made up her mind and nothing is going to change it. She loves her son more than life itself, and if she has to lose him to keep him safe? Then she will live through that heart break… At least Tommy will have Ellie. She knows he already adores the woman.</p>
<p>“I will come back for him - for the both of you.” Aster promises, lifting her bags over her shoulder. “When it’s safe, I’ll come back and we can be together, okay?”</p>
<p>Ellie wants to say no; she wants to tell Aster that she can’t raise her son, she wants to say that she can’t lose her, and that she can’t do this without her there too.</p>
<p>But she loves Tommy, she knows that already, the little boy was impossible not to love from the moment she saw him. And his Mother? She loves his Mother, Aster was impossible not to love from the moment she saw her too. Bruised, and broken, but more than anything… fierce, and determined.</p>
<p>Ellie wants to say no, but what slips out is-</p>
<p>“I love you, it seems ridiculous, but I feel like I’ve been waiting for you my whole life. I love you, Aster Flores.”</p>
<p>Aster can only smile sadly as she passes in front of Ellie, stopping for a second to kiss her cheek, before moving to the living room. Ellie follows behind her, watching as Aster stops by Tommy, kissing his head and whispering her goodbyes to her baby boy.</p>
<p>Ellie can hear the heartbreaking sound of Aster’s hysterical crying before the front door even shuts.</p>
<p>Paul and Ellie stare at each other in a mixture of sadness and horror, the very thought of this being real digs a hole in their souls. How is this happening?</p>
<p>A heartbeat passes and they both rush into action.</p>
<p>Paul runs to the door, desperate to follow Aster, to try and stop her before she leaves for real. He just knows he can help her, he can fix this if he tries.</p>
<p>Ellie lifts Tommy into her arms; she can fix this if she tries too. She just has to make sure Tommy is safe and sound first, and so she runs to her place, barely able to get a word out to her Father sitting in his pajamas on an armchair watching a French movie.</p>
<p>“Emergency!” She manages to yell. “Watch him!” Are her only words as she charges out of the house on a mission to do something to stop what’s happening.</p>
<p>_________________</p>
<p>Paul chases Aster for almost ten minutes before he catches up with her, his heart pounded and chest heaving. Paul may have run track in highschool, but Aster Flores is running for her life… and her son’s.</p>
<p>“Don’t leave!” He begs, desperate to get her to just stop. “What do you think Tommy is going to say when he wakes up and you aren’t there, Aster?”</p>
<p>She spins on her heel. He touched a nerve.</p>
<p>“Don’t make this harder, Paul!” She screams through her tears, her face red and flush. She’s a mixture of emotions, and it hurts Paul to see what’s come of her.</p>
<p>“This won’t solve anything!” He insists.</p>
<p>“You think I want this? That I want to leave my baby behind, that I want to be alone? Tommy is my life!”</p>
<p>Paul sputters. “Then stay!”</p>
<p>“How? He knows where I am, Paul! He’s going to hurt me again, and worse, he’ll use Tommy to do it.”</p>
<p>“I’ll keep you safe, Aster, I promise you.”</p>
<p>“Look at how well that’s worked, Paul…”</p>
<p>“Then Ellie will keep you safe, I saw the way that she looks at you, something happened between you two, didn’t it? She’s a good woman, she’ll keep you safe.”</p>
<p>“What if he hurts her like he hurt you, I can’t put her through that… I love her Paul, she’s… she’s amazing.”</p>
<p>“She is amazi-” A loud screeching of tires interrupted Paul mid-sentence, the two jumping as a car pulled up beside them so quickly that Paul had to pull Aster out of the way, before she got hit. A car door burst open and screaming began immediately.</p>
<p>“You really thought you’d fucking leave me? For who? My bestfriend!” Aster froze as a familiar voice filled the air, running a chill straight down her spine.</p>
<p>Paul had been right, T.J. found her, and the very thought of it could not make her feel any sicker.</p>
<p>As Aster froze, Paul spun around to face his former best friend, his mouth opening to tell the man to leave her alone when Aster’s shaky voice interrupted.</p>
<p>“Go away, T.J.” She whispered, the man bursting into laughter at how she shook while delivering the line.</p>
<p>“Don’t be an idiot, Aster.” He started, taking a step closer. “Come home, and we’ll be a family again.” Thomas smirked. “After you apologize, of course.”</p>
<p>She shook her head vehemently. “Never.”</p>
<p>The smirk dropped from his face instantly. “Listen here you little bitch, you will come home, because you’ll do anything for my son… You won’t leave him.”</p>
<p>“You won’t find him, T.J.”</p>
<p>“I already have.”</p>
<p>Fear swarmed her heart for a second, and she wanted to throw up before she realized with a jolt that he was lying to her. He couldn’t have found Tommy. “Liar.”</p>
<p>His eyes flashed with anger. “How dare you!”</p>
<p>“Where is he then, Thomas? Where is Tommy?”</p>
<p>Caught in a lie, the older man began to panic, if slightly. “He was with your parents!” He said confidently, sure that Aster had turned to them.</p>
<p>Aster’s eyes went steely as she coolly shook her head.</p>
<p>“Then he’s with Paul’s parents! He helped steal you from me, I’m sure he had no problem stealing my son!” He glared at Paul with a hatred burning in him.</p>
<p>“Wrong again.” This time Aster smirked, pleased to watch the man that struck fear into her time and time again, fumble and falter. “You’ll never find him.” She glared, taking a step back from T.J. and starting to turn her back to him. “And I’m never coming home, T.J.”</p>
<p>Instantly, T.J. lunged at her, his voice roared “Whore!”</p>
<p>It all happened like a chaos of terror; Aster shrieked in fear, Paul flew at T.J. to tackle him, Thomas sidestepped before grappling his former bestfriend, there was a scuffle between the two that resulted in harsh blows being landed and grunts of pain. </p>
<p>Then there was a sickening crack as Paul’s body hit the ground with full force and he stopped moving.</p>
<p>“Paul!” Aster screamed, running forward to him, trying to get close enough to see how badly he was hurt. She had barely reached him before she was being lifted by her husband, T.J. red in the face and furious.</p>
<p>“You’re going to come home with me now… Either you tell me where Tommy is, and we can all be a family again, or we’ll just have to restart our family.”</p>
<p>Aster felt sick to her stomach, her heart raced as he dragged her back to his truck, she kicked and fought and screamed but he was stronger than she was. As they reached the truck, and he popped open the door, she was about to resign herself to her fate when a different voice had her ready to burst into tears.</p>
<p>“Leave her alone, now!” This voice was strong, no fear, just confidence and it made Aster want to cry.</p>
<p>Ellie Chu had come to rescue Aster Flores.</p>
<p>The sight of Ellie made Aster’s heart flutter just a little bit before the severity of the situation sunk into her. “Ellie, no, get out of here! Please, don’t get hurt!”</p>
<p>At this outburst, T.J. narrowed his eyes and dropped Aster back onto the ground. “And who’s this, babe?”</p>
<p>Shaking her head, Aster didn’t say a word, just silently begged Ellie with her eyes to leave while she could.</p>
<p>“Someone who cares more about her than you do.”</p>
<p>“That’s sweet, but misguided, I’ll be taking my wife home now, if you’re smart you won’t get in my way.”</p>
<p>Ellie took a step forward, squaring her chest and staring directly at Thomas Singh. “I’m not going to let you, Aster’s not going anywhere, I’ll stop you.”</p>
<p>Aster flinched as T.J. grabbed a hold of her hair. “You and what army?” He sneered, pulling Aster towards the truck roughly by the roots of her hair.</p>
<p>“Stop right there, son!” A different voice boomed out from beside Ellie, as a uniformed cop stepped out from the car that she had arrived in. “Let the girl go!”</p>
<p>Aster’s mouth dropped open at the same time as Thomas’ did, the younger man dropping her immediately and raising his hands. “Sir, this is my wife. I’m trying to get her back home. She’s unwell.”</p>
<p>The older man shook his head, stepping even closer to the situation. “I don’t care if she’s your mother, sister, wife or daughter… If she doesn’t want to go, she will not be going anywhere with you. Let her go.”</p>
<p>Aster’s eyes opened wide as Thomas nudged her with his boot, delivering her a swift kick in the ribs before the cop was rushing across the field to pin her husband to his own vehicle. As soon as he was grabbed, Aster got to her feet and sprinted towards Ellie, collapsing in the other woman’s arms with a desperate cry as Ellie held her close to her chest.</p>
<p>Aster Flores was safe at last.</p>
<p>_________________</p>
<p>It was five days later that Paul had recovered enough in the hospital for Aster, Ellie and Tommy to visit.</p>
<p>“A restraining order?” Paul asked incredulously as his godson climbed onto his bed and curled up at his side to show him the pictures he drew specially to make his ‘Uncle Paul’ feel better about his ‘booboos’.</p>
<p>Aster nodded with a slight blush to her cheeks. “Ellie was the one who thought of it, when I took off she ran straight to the local police station…” </p>
<p>Ellie cut in. “Sarah’s Dad.” She smiled at Aster, rubbing her thumb overtop of the girls hand gently. “I told him everything, about Aster’s bruises, her story… He agreed to come with me to find you guys because I said I thought you both were in some kind of danger.”</p>
<p>Paul nodded his head, tousling the three year old’s hair gently. He had sustained a broken rib or two and a concussion from the fight, but he would have gone through more to keep Aster and Tommy safe.</p>
<p>“I guess he saw Thomas kick my butt.”</p>
<p>“No, but we saw you on the ground when we got there, and Aster screaming.” Ellie filled in. “He barely had to try to even convince the judge, just his recount was enough to ensure that Thomas Singh will never come after Aster again.” Ellie smiled at the girl reassuringly, wrapping her arm around her warmly. </p>
<p>“If he does, he’ll be arrested, not even his lawyer will get him out of it.” Aster said softly, a tear rolling down her cheek that she tried to wipe away immediately.</p>
<p>Paul reached for her other hand. “He won’t bother, he knows he lost, he’ll move on… He is a jerk, but he isn’t stupid enough to get himself thrown in jail.”</p>
<p>Aster nodded her head with a small smile, before looking at Ellie and resting her head on the other girl’s shoulder with a soft and content sigh.</p>
<p>Paul raised an eyebrow. “So the two of you?”</p>
<p>“Yep.” Ellie answered for them, kissing the top of Aster’s head before opening an arm for three year old Tommy to come barreling into, holding him tightly.</p>
<p>“Are you happy, Aster?” Paul smiled.</p>
<p>A smile came over Aster’s face. “Absolutely.”</p>
<p>And Aster Flores knew that with Ellie Chu and her son by her side, that her demons were finally shut up.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Epilogue.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This story means a lot to me as a person, the content is rough but so very important as it showcases what someone goes through during domestic violence, a subject that is near and dear to my heart. It was so important to me to write a realistic but happy ending. Writing this has been very cathartic in dealing with things that I have gone through in my life, so I'm really happy that all of you have enjoyed it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Come on, Mom, we’re going to be late!” Twelve year old Tommy Chu (formerly Singh) shouted over his back as he sprinted up the marble steps of the gallery.</p><p>Ellie struggled to match his speed, her fingers looped carefully around the hand of a small girl, trying to make sure the toddler didn’t fall as they hurried to the doors. Inside the building, Ellie could pick up on the low mumblings from the Mayor of Squahamish, beginning his rehearsed speech about the event.</p><p>“You’re late.” Paul teased as Tommy rushed into him, Ellie following moments later, her eyes widening as she saw Aster moving towards the podium. “Here, give me the baby and get to your seat. She’ll want to see you, Lilah and Tommy cheering her on.”</p><p>There was an awkward exchange as Ellie unbuckled the baby bjorn, tucking the sleeping Maverick into Paul’s arms, before dropping the diaper bag at his feet and plucking her three year old off the ground and rushing through the crowd, a thankful reminder of “You’re the best, Munsky.” the only words Ellie could get out before they all were off to their seats.</p><p>“… a woman who needs no introduction, the artist responsible for these amazing pieces, Aster Flores!”</p><p>Just as Ellie got the two children into their seats, they had to spring up again as Aster finally took the podium, the crowd cheering and clapping though none as loud as the Chu family.</p><p>“Well done, Aster!”</p><p>“You rock, Ma!”</p><p>“Yay, Mama, yay!”</p><p>As the applause died down, Ellie settled her two kids as well, giving Lilah a cookie to snack on and flashing Tommy a proud look at the sparkle in his eye while watching his Mama begin speaking.</p><p>“If you had asked me nine years ago, if I could imagine my life today, I would have told you no. Firmly, and while looking at you like you were crazy.”</p><p>A small laugh ran through the crowd.</p><p>“I was living in an extremely abusive marriage, that left me terrified for not only myself, but for my son as well. That man beat down my self worth, my confidence and any imagination that I had, that one day things would have a chance to be better.”  </p><p>Aster catches Ellie’s eye and a slight blush of red comes over her cheeks as Aster continues her speech.</p><p>“Luckily for myself, through the help and encouragement of my son Tommy and my wife Ellie, I was able to save myself from my circumstances.”</p><p>Smiling down at Tommy, Aster turns to look at the exhibit behind her, the different paintings on prominent display, the artist’s names written proudly across their work, Aster’s own on several pieces.</p><p>“For some women, men and children… they don’t have the ability to rescue themselves like I did. This is why I wanted to start up my own gallery, and put survivors of abuse in an exhibit that not only showcases their experiences, but provides them with the means to escape their situations.”</p><p>It had been Aster’s passion for the past nine years, ever since T.J. had received his restraining order and been mandated (after a few months, he moved on anyway) to stay away from his ex-wife and son.</p><p>A passion that had not only turned into something bigger, but that now saw Aster getting her life long dream of owning her own gallery. Bigger than that, it saw Aster helping countless others escape their situation as she put a focus on survivors of abuse and the plight they had to go through for freedom.</p><p>This focus saw many survivors earning money from their art, then using that money to start a new life.</p><p>Not to mention with the publicity of her gallery; it drew in lawyers, employers and everyone else that could be needed to make a significant change.</p><p>“I want to thank everyone sitting here for their help in making this movement a reality, but most of all, I’d like to thank my wife and son. You both gave me the drive to not only start living life the way I wanted, but continued to support me as I set my sights on doing something more important than just surviving.”</p><p>The clapping started up again, Aster and Ellie meeting eyes through the crowd as Ellie mouthed the words, “I love you,” and Aster knew she meant them.</p><p>_________________</p><p>It was until later on that Ellie got to talk to Aster.</p><p>The speeches part of the event, went on to include a few of Aster’s friends who had overcome their own journey’s, and then afterwards broke free to a tour of the new exhibit, Aster leading the charge as Ellie hung back to feed Maverick and Lilah some dinner.</p><p>The event ended, but the night did not, as Aster, Ellie, Paul, the children and a bunch of their friends all decided to get food. Ellie watching Aster in admiration as the brunette lit up in ways that had once seemed impossible for the battered woman.</p><p>Tommy got to shine as well, given almost celebrity status by the artists of the exhibit that knew his face well from the paintings his Mama had made of him.</p><p>He thrived and shone as he watched his Mama do the same in the company of the people that understood what they had gone through at the hands of TJ.</p><p>Dinner ended, and the family went home, Paul accompanying them for a little while until it was time for the children to go to bed. That’s when he gave his godson a tight hug, gave his bestfriend’s an even tighter one and promised to visit again soon.</p><p>The girls tag teamed to put the three kids to bed, and then as they retired to their own, Ellie was finally able to put overwhelming emotions of the day into words.</p><p>“I am so proud of you, Aster.” She whispered, eyes not leaving her wife once as Aster got ready for bed.</p><p>“I couldn’t have done it without you.”</p><p>“Yes you could have, you are strong and wonderful.”</p><p>“Say more nice things about me.” Aster teased, a smirk that reached her eyes plastered on her face in amusement as she beckoned Ellie for more.</p><p>“You’re beautiful, amazing, talented, a good mother and the best wife in the world.” Ellie surrendered.</p><p>“And…” Aster asked as she slipped in bed next to Ellie.</p><p>Ellie wrapped her up in her arms, pulling the brunette against her tightly and warmly. “And I love you.”</p><p>“I love you too.”</p>
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